4th of July

This 4th of July holiday I went Jamestown and Williamsburg with my friend Emily and her family. I must admit that I don't know a lot about either Jamestown or Williamsburg other than both were settlements so I deferred to Wikipedia for historical context. 

Jamestown, located on Jamestown Island in the Virginia Colony, was founded on May 14, 1607.^[1] It is commonly regarded as the first permanent Englishsettlement in what is now the United States of America, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke. It was founded by the London Company (later to become the Virginia Company), headquartered in London. Located in James City County when it was formed in 1634 as one of the original eight shires of Virginia, Jamestown was the capital of the Colony for 83 years, from 1616 until 1698. At that time, the capital was relocated to Middle Plantation, about 8 miles (13 km) distant. (That small community, which had also become home to the new College of William and Mary in 1693, was renamed Williamsburg in 1699).

I was stoked to see the Powhatan Village at Jamestown because the brochure we received upon entrance had a dishy-looking Native American. To my utter disappointment the camp was staffed not by Native Americana at all but by Caucasian females wearing Native American garb. The place did have some cool ships to tour.

We went to Williamsburg for the 4th of July to see the 13 cannon salute. Coming from Utah where the fourth of July means Stadium of Fire and a parade it was nice to see the more historic side of Independence day. They did a salute for each of the original 13 states, played the state song and shot a cannon for each . Here is the first paragraph of Wikipedia's Williamsburg entry and some pictures. 

Colonial Williamsburg is the historic district of the independent city of Williamsburg, Virginia. It consists of many of the buildings that, from 1699 to 1780, formed colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of two of the original shires of Virginia, James City Shire (nowJames City County), and Charles River Shire (now York County). For most of the 18th century, Williamsburg was the center of government, education and culture in the Colony of Virginia. It was here that Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, James Monroe, James Madison, George Wythe,Peyton Randolph, and dozens more helped mold democracy in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States.